I know it’s Super Bowl Sunday* but what I’ve got for you is scrapbooking-related, LOL. Speaking of which, I hope all you football wives and moms are taking lots of pics and making some rad scrapbooks after this! Super Bowl times make for some great memories.

Here are some fun finds and bits of news from around the scrappy interwebs this week . . .

– I know a lot of overseas folks will be so happy to hear that BeckyHiggins.com NOW SHIPS INTERNATIONALLY!! Although in reading the comments on the blog post, it seems that many aren’t happy with the cost. I personally agree with the comments that point out Becky doesn’t set the shipping costs. She was asked to make international shipping available and she did. She doesn’t control the price and can’t take a loss on each order by lowering that. What do you think?

– I’ll close with a little blog milestone: This weekend, I reached 700 subscribers to my blog posts! I’m so excited and grateful! I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to read and to support my blog. It truly means the world to me :) If you would like to subscribe, just enter your email address in the box at the top right of this site. You will ONLY receive an email when a new post is published. Promise. I do plan to start another mailing list but it will be separate from this one which is basically an RSS feed.

* Whoops! I had a busy weekend and thought I’d scheduled this post to go up late Sunday night but apparently not, LOL. Sorry ’bout that. To further apologize, I’ll add 2 more tidbits you might like:

Crafty Steals has a bundle today of October Afternoon Mini Market alpha stickers – only $12.99 for 18 packs! If you’ve never used these alphas, I highly recommend them. The rectangle ones especially are the perfect size for so many projects.

And Simple Stories released some free printables to go with their new “Life Documented” line!

They are made to be used with their planner line specifically but you can use them in your own planner, pocket page scrapping, or regular scrapbooking. Enjoy!

October Afternoon has . . . made a small mention of a new line? And, whoomp, there it is! Right HERE on their website. For realies. See? Here is one of the papers:

So, first things first, go check out the new line called “Saturday Mornings” – which I think is super cute but not really useable for me (thank GOD! because I have enough OA to choke a horse). Then come back so we can talk about this, mmmm kay?

(Scrapbook Obsession drinks some coffee . . . )

(Scrapbook Obsession Pins some layouts . . . )

(Scrapbook Obsession gets more coffee . . .)

OKAY, you’re back! What did you think? I *do* love the chair paper with a great name (“Coffee”, which I seem to be quite partial to).

In OA’s inimitable style, they didn’t really announce this new line. Apparently, it was mentioned in a customer email – there will be a sampling of the line in the OA Santa Sack #4. But there’s no mention on their blog, Facebook page, etc. Yet there is the entire line on their website. That’s OA, re-writing ALL the rules about product merchandising, sales, and distribution, LOL. Gotta’ love ‘em.

But the important thing is – what to you think? You likee?

ETA 12-15-14: I just found the contents of the email posted online. Here is what OA said:

Here we are at Week Four of October Afternoon’s Santa Sack Sale!

Get over $100 retail value of merchandise for the bargain price of just $39.99 plus shipping.

This week’s Santa Sack is extra special! This week, we are including a fun sampling of products from October Afternoon’s brand-new Saturday Mornings™ collection. This collection is shipping to stores now!

Of course, this Santa Sack also contains many other products from a variety of October Afternoon lines. As usual, there will be no duplicates from any other weeks!

Come and check it out on our BLOG starting at NOON (Central Standard Time) TODAY!

1. I haven’t pulled the trigger (yet?) but the deal today at CraftySteals.com is surely trying my resolve. Check this out:

Tons of October Afternoon “Public Library” for only $23. Aye yie yie . . . I want it SO bad! But I’m telling myself that I really don’t need the entire line, just several sheets of that gorgeous paper and an embellishment or two. Praying for strength, LOL.

Just click here to see the details and sign up. Maybe we’ll bump into each other in the chat room :)

Hope I made your Monday a little brighter!

PS: If you’re reading this directly from my blog, sorry for the different look. I’m doing some remodeling as I have time between work and family. There will be other changes before I’m done so thank you for your patience.

A couple of months ago, I found a great deal on these Cropper Hopper Sticker Envelopes.

As you can see, they were normally $6.99 marked down to $1.50 so I did what any bargain-lovin’ scrapper would do: I bought them all! There were 10 packages so I got 30 Sticker Envelopes for $15 (instead of $70 at full price). WAHOO!!

They sat in my scraproom for a while because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to use them. I guess they’re intended to just store stickers, maybe by topic? But that ain’t how I roll, baby.

I thought about making up kits with them. You know, pull all the paper, stickers, alphas, embellishments, and photos for a single project. But in the end, I decided to use them for storing a whole collection.

In this case, I stored all the October Afternoon “Apple Cider” collection that I talked about HERE.

This is what it looks like from one side:

And here is the other side:

All of the 12×12 papers are in the large inside pocket. The stickers and embellishments fit so nicely in the outside pockets. I’ll put a label on that top tab. {For everything in my scrap space, I used an older version of this Brother P-touch Labeler – it’s perfect!}

I love that I can see the whole collection at a glance. I also love that these pockets fit inside my Cropper Hopper paper holders, which I sort by manufacturer. So of course this Sticker Envelope goes into the October Afternoon paper holder. I use an older version of these Cropper Hopper Paper Holders.

Like I said, I store most of my scrapbook stuff by manufacturer. For some lines, I just have paper but for others I have paper + embellishments. I’ll be going through my CH paper holders and transferring those full collections into these. It’ll be great to just grab a Sticker Envelope and get to work :)

I don’t belong to a scrapbook kit club anymore but if I did, I’d use these Sticker Envelopes to store new kits when they arrived. It would be helpful in “killing a kit” I would think. You could see each little piece and more likely use it. Then when most of the kit had been used, you could separate the items into your regular storage methods. “Oh no! The Sticker Envelope is empty! Whatever will I do?! Ah, time to buy a new kit!” Heh.

I got these Sticker Envelopes at Beverly’s Crafts. If you’re in California, you can check HERE to see if there’s a store near you. Maybe your store will have them, too. In mine, they weren’t in Scrapbooking but were in the big Clearance section.

If you were drooling over the great October Afternoon deal I got HERE, you might want to check THIS out! ScrapbookSteals.com has another OA deal today, this time with their EGGNOG COLLECTION KIT.

I am broke, baby! But if you’re so inclined, go take advantage of that deal before it sells out! Seems like a lot of fun to scrap the holidays with – maybe even do your whole December Daily with it?

I also just heard about a free scrapbooking class that I *NEED* to take and I’ll bet you do, too: “SCRAPBOOKING YOUR BABY’S FIRST YEAR” with Nicole Samuels. {If you’re one of those annoying scrappers who already has all their children’s first year of life documented from first cry to first birthday, gah! Just move along. I mean, really?!?}

I can’t find a photo/ad to copy over but this is the text from the class description:

document the magical moments.

In the flurry of adjusting to life with a new baby, it can be tempting to shelve your scrapbooking plans and leave your photographs in their digital formats. But those moments only happen once! Learn a system for getting those memories down and creating a scrapbook you’ll cherish for a lifetime.

Scrapbooking Your Baby’s First Year with Nicole Samuels will help you sift through the photos, moments, and memories and decide which ones belong in your memory books. You’ll learn how to use Studio Calico kits and products to create clean, modern scrapbook layouts that highlight the milestones and relationships that emerge in your baby’s first year. Nicole will show you how to create scrapbooks that both focus on the big events, like sitting up, and the unique ones that simply mean a lot to your family.

Time is fleeting and precious, don’t let the first year of the important child in your life go unaccounted for. Develop a system for documenting those magical moments in Scrapbooking Your Baby’s First Year.

If you click over at the link above, you can watch an intro video, too. The class is being broadcast for FREE on 10-30-14 by CREATIVE LIVE; they do tons of free and paid classes that are absolutely top-quality. You should check them out if you haven’t already. {I posted HERE about classes by scrappers Lain Ehmann and Becky Higgins in the past}. If you miss the live broadcast – and the free re-broadcast they usually do immediately following the live one – or you love Nicole’s class so much you want to buy it, it’s only $29.

Speaking of Becky, I see in the class schedule that Nicole is going to Skype with BECKY HIGGINS and ALI EDWARDS, two of my favorite scrappers! If nothing else, go RSVP for the free class so you can get a Studio Calico coupon. When you sign up, you’ll also be notified in the future when this “Scrapbooking Baby’s First Year” class will be re-broadcast again for free.

Man, I need this class! I have children who are well past babies and (gulp!) no baby books! I’ve even purchased the awesome PROJECT LIFE BABY KITS kits from Becky and gathered all the photos and memorabilia into one place. I just haven’t sat down and gotten started. I really wish I would’ve done it sooner but, hey, what’re ya’ gonna’ do? I’ll be watching this free class to get my bottom in gear, maybe even buy it afterward so I can keep getting kicked in the pants to do this super-important project.

Okay, there. I’ve saved you tons of money. What more do you want from me?!?! Have a lovely day.

As I mentioned HERE, I recently ordered the “Apple Cider” line from ScrapbookSteals.com. It arrived a bit ago; I’m just getting around to posting pics.

You know how sometimes with online shopping, you really love something on the screen so you order it. But then you receive it and it’s not as great as you thought it would be?

Well, that was NOT the case with October Afternoon’s “Apple Cider” line! Ha ha, I had you fooled there, didn’t I?

I mean, look at the extreme LOVELINESS below!

As packaged:

That’s a lotta’ loot for only $18:

Annnnddd . . . the most important part: the papers!

I have to admit, I spent a good deal of time fondling . . . ahem, petting . . . what I meant was PUTTING my new goodies away. Jeez. What did you think was going on in the hizzy!?! Something borderline illegal? Just because I made sure I was the only one home at the time. There is nothing suspicious about that at all, no sirree Bob! Just a regular ol’ night at Scrapbook Obsession’s place.

So anyway – this is a gorgeous line in person. It’s everything I love about October Afternoon – nice thick double-sided papers with unique designs that are so usable, fun embellishments, great colors, and nice sayings. AND PUFFY STICKERS.

I’m just not sure what more you could ask really.

I really look forward to scrapping my Autumn photos with this amazing scrapbook line. Now if it would just get out of the 100s here . . .

OCTOBER AFTERNOON has long been one of my top 5 favorite scrapbooking companies (maddening release delays, notwithstanding). I’ve wanted the “Apple Cider” line since I first saw it but was waiting for a great deal like this.

I still wasn’t 100% sure I’d pull the trigger – the main things I wanted were the papers, puffy stickers, and pop drops.

So I clicked on the product description to see exactly what was included in the steal:

apple cider collection kit

Featuring iconic autumn images from acorns and pumpkins to squirrels and leaves, this collection is perfect for your autumn paper-crafting projects.

Lo and behold, all 3 things I reeeeeally wanted were included in this kit, which I could hardly believe because it was only $18! Even with shipping included, that’s about 40% off retail. With October Afternoon, I prefer to get the entire kit so I was pumped, baby!

To make things even better, I forgot I was earning “Steals points” but I got this message after I placed my order:

So it’s only 62 points (62 cents) but, like I always, say, “It’s better than a sharp stick in the eye!” Now that I was reminded about the Steals points, I’ll try to click on over to the Steals pages each day. I get their emails, one that shows just the ScrapbookSteals deal for the day, and another that shows ALL the Steals.com deals of the day (they also have sites for She, Baby, and Kid) with some really cute stuff for great prices.

My goal is to save a few dollars on my next order, maybe even cover shipping. Then I’ll feel like a real Scrappy Shopping Ninja, ha!!

One tip I will give about ordering from ScrapbookSteals.com: If you’re in a hurry for your order, well . . . don’t be, LOL. I also ordered the Echo Park “Creative Agenda” collection kit from them on 09/02 and I just received it on 09/20. Granted, I chose the cheapest shipping option; you can pay more if you *need* your items quicker.

Yayyyy!!! So happy about getting OA Apple Cider. I just love the paper designs and puffy stickers and hearts so much <3 The "steal" changes everyday but you can check out their archives (past items like the 2 I talked about) HERE. ‘Course, I had to click over there right now to make sure that the OA and EP deals are still there (they are), and I had to see this:

The HEARTS! Oh, the HEARTS! I swear, the bullets I take for you people. You’d better appreciate it. Gah.

There’s a scrappy novel on sale for Kindle HERE. It’s part of a series; you can see all the books HERE.

The Project Life app I talked about HERE is now available! It’s getting rave reviews on the scrapbook message boards. You can get it HERE. Really helpful FAQs from Becky are HERE. It’s only $2.99 and includes some of the Project Life card designs; you can buy others for a reasonable cost. I can’t wait to play with it! How about you?

Here are the Fall 2014 Pantone colors as shared by October Afternoon:

I kinda’ like them. I can see some really pretty color combos in there – like Aluminum + Royal Blue + Misted Yellow. What do you think of this season’s Pantone colors?

I hope you’re enjoying a fabulous and relaxing Labor Day Weekend, if you’re in the States. If you haven’t done any shopping yet, make sure to check out my post with a bunch of scrapbook-related sales and discounts RIGHT HERE.

I’m going to try something new here @ Scrapbook Obsession Blog – a weekly round-up post of cool things I saw online this week that I think will be right up your alley. And away we go!

– Sounds like the first CHA PAPER ARTS SHOW was a success. Do you think they’ll keep doing them?

– ECHO PARK has posted some videos showing how to use their new “Designer Dies and Stamps.”

– This COOL ITEM is supposed to be for party tabletops but I’m picturing it being very useful on my scrapbook desk!

– Simple Stories has been putting out some great “Inspiration E-Books” for each of their new lines. Check out the latest one HERE.

– Don’t forget to use these GREAT COUPONS by tomorrow, Monday 09-01-14!

– BIG NEWS from October Afternoon, one of my favorite lines in the whole scrappy world. {There was some message board speculation that they were closing or selling to another company because of their, um, business practices? But, no, that’s not it . . . Phew!}

– Lisa at “Blackbird Darlin'” blog is making a Project Life album in 6×8. Check out her progress HERE.

It’s time for another Santa Sack Sale by one of my favorite companies, OCTOBER AFTERNOON!

Week 1 begins 11-11-13 and there is one per week for 5 weeks, continuing into December 2013. I know that in past years, scrappers have bought all 5 Santa Sacks. Man, it must’ve been crowded under their Christmas trees {she said, extremely jealously … }

They’re also offering a Stamp Sack beginning 12-16-13. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Stamp Sack is a first this year. Great news for all you stampers! OA has some wicked cute stamp sets.

I blogged about a past Santa Sack Sale HERE. If you’d like to see what kinds of things were in past Santa Sacks, there are tons of videos on YouTube.

I have to pass because I’ve been doing some other shopping lately, including a trip to HOBBY LOBBY while traveling. Will you buy an OA Santa Sack (or five) this year? Please do show us your loot if you!

Sorry no bloggee for me lately. No, I didn’t get trampled by scrappers running to buy all the new Project Life THEMED KITS coming out this month. Nor was I run over by the October Afternoon WAREHOUSE SALE truck.

Nope, just the same old reason … super busy with work and family stuff. And a ran an online crop last weekend at my favorite message board – including Scrapbook Bingo! We had a blast and hope to do it again soon.

Speaking of October Afternoon, how did I miss THIS?!?!? It’s called “Milk Money”, a super cute school line. The papers and stickers are so cute, and these are a MUST-HAVE!

OA “Milk Money” Pillow Puffs

OA “Milk Money” Pop Drops

In fact, there is much of the DAILY FLASH line that I need to start saving for now. What do you think of OA’s new stuff? Maybe now that they’ve PARTNERED WITH Webster’s Pages, delivery to their frothing and drooling public (aka ME) will arrive sooner than later for once. Here’s hoping!

Lot’s of buy-outs and join-ups in the scrapbooking world these days. I just heard that WRMK BOUGHT A COMPANY, too. Hey, whatever keeps them viable and making scrappy products for us to enjoy, I say!

And I’ll close with a lovely video that made me smile . . . hope it does the same for you: IRISH CUPS.

About a month ago, I placed an order for some scrapbook supplies from an online shop. I had bought from them before and had a great experience. The prices are good, they get the new releases quite quickly, and sometimes carry things that I can’t get with my consultant discount from MEMORY WORKS. Super cool, right?

So I ordered a bunch of things from the October Afternoon “9 TO 5″ LINE including 12×12 papers, Mini Market stickers, 2 rolls of washi tape, etc. I also purchased a set of SUMMER FRESH 6×8 insert pages {MW was out of stock at the time}.

My shipment arrived in a timely manner and I was scrap happy, although I was so busy with work and family stuff at the time, I barely had time to glance at it all much less sniff all the paper …. erm, verify that I got everything I ordered.

AHEM.

So fast forward to last weekend. I was straightening up my desk, putting away a bunch of scrap crap … errr … scrappy goodness, and I came across the package with my order. Finally! Time to sniff my papers! I mean, LOOK at all my goodies. For shits and giggles, I looked at the packing sheet and compared it to what I received.

Lo and behold, something didn’t match up. Instead of the LABEL STICKERS that I ordered …

Don’t get me wrong: Those Word Stickers are sure cute. But, you know, um … that’s not what I paid for. Not what I chose. For one thing, I won’t even use those book tab thingee stickers. And I wanted the journaling space provided by the, uh, ya know, label stickers that I ordered.

Then again, why am I complaining? Not only did they replace the Label stickers with the comparably-priced Word Stickers, but I got a “free” pack of Journal Cards too. So doesn’t that more than make up for everything?

I’m not going to make an issue of it. One could say if I cared so much, why would I take over a month to figure out the discrepancy? And is it really worth the time/energy it takes to call or write the company, return or exchange or wait for the Label Stickers (which I assume they were out of) to come in, etc.? Nope, not worth it to me.

But this is the second time this has happened to me in about the last year (and I’d say I order something online about twice a month, if you include my monthly SUPER SKETCH CLUB kit). The other time it was from one of the huge online vendors. In that case, they really screwed me. An item I ordered was “out of stock” (funny how it was IN stock when I placed my order) so not only did they just ship it to me without the item (you know, the one I was REALLY looking forward to and the main reason I placed the order in the first place?).

But by deleting that item, it took me below the “$50 and free shipping” threshhold. So I received only my secondary item AND got charged for full shipping which was not an amount I would’ve agreed to pay for shipping. Grrr! I e-mailed them to express my pissed-off-edness but didn’t pursue it beyond that. I did learn not to order from them again unless I’m willing to risk this little cancellation and replacement dance they do.

And now I don’t trust this second vendor and will question ordering from them again. Wouldn’t it have been better for their sake if they had taken the time to write or call me and say, “Hey, we’re out of this, can we give you that, or would you rather have a Paypal refund?” And then I would continue my loyalty to them as a very happy customer. Now, not so much.

So this has me wondering how common a practice this is in the scrapbook industry. What’s been your experience with online shopping? Have you had items you ordered and paid for – substituted, canceled, or otherwise arrive not as you expected? Did you make an issue of it or just let it ride?

Would love to hear your experiences … Please leave the company name out of it if you can/thanks!

I found THIS amazingly organized scrapbook room on one of my favorite manufacturer’s blogs, OCTOBER AFTERNOON.

The room belongs to Stacey and I just love it. She uses a lot of my favorite ways to organize including …

– 12×12 Sterlite-type drawers, which I love because they hold just the right amount, are easy to access, and easy to put things away in.

– Cropper Hopper vertical 12×12 paper holders which make your paper so easy to flip through. I use them to sort by manufacturer and put everything in there – 12×12 papers, letters, stickers, die cuts, ribbon, and all other embellishments. I like to scrap using things from the same line and sometimes mixing and matching from the same manufacturer (many use the same color families over and over, which I love!). So I love having everything from, say, CRATE PAPER or FANCY PANTS, all in one place.

– Ribbon in jars … not only can you see all the varieties you have so you know where to start diggin’ (LOL), but they’re so decorative too. Which leads me to another thing I love about Stacey’s room …

– Everything is organized by color, and in ROY G BIV order no less. It makes this anal retentive girl’s heart skip a beat! Srsly. I have my cardstock, ribbons, Stickles, brads/metal embellishments, and Making Memories paints all organized by color. I’ve toyed with the idea many times of organizing all of my embellishments that way – like EVERYTHING red in one holder, etc. – but I don’t think I’d like it. I can see it works well for her, though. It’s all in the way you personally scrap.

– Memorabilia organized by family member in accordion files. I would love to do this … but she must be WAY better at paring things down than I’ll ever be because I could never squeeze each family member into just one file, LOL.

So a big shout out to Stacey! She has, over all her years or scrapbooking and changing spaces, refined the systems that work for her. She’s super organized and has created a bright, functional space to create in.

What do you love about her room? What things would work for you and what wouldn’t? Do you use any of the same organizational systems of items she does?

I mean, it’s all well and good for you Minnesota bee-yotches. Whoo hoo for you. But I’m on the stinkin’ West Coast. Fat lot a good a warehouse sale in Minnestoa does me.

I mean, I’m only, like, omigod! Their #1 fan! U R 2 GOOD 2 B TRU … oh, wha? I just had a flashback to junior high there for a second.

So HERE is where I learned about the October Afternoon warehouse sale {from the Peas of course}.

As we speak, I have “SIDEWALKS” in my shopping cart at two online stores while I dig for quarters in the couches, turn in aluminum cans, and sell my plasma. Hey, Collection Packs ain’t cheap but I need it all!

I mean, HULLOH! Is that gorge or what?
ETA: I wish I could claim this layout but it’s courtesy of the October Afternoon blog :)

Pssst! Word on the street (and by that I mean “scrapbook message boards”) is that MICHAELS now carries the ever-so-popular COPIC markers!

While you can apparently get them for a cheaper price at some online stores, at Michaels you can (at least at this point) use a 40% coupon not to mention the instant gratification. Plus you don’t have that pesky shipping charge. {I notice they have some Copic tips on their website HERE}.

I don’t know nuthin’ about Copics myself. I’m not a cardmaker (oh, the cards I’ve attempted are just dreadful … you should see them … a crime against humanity, I tell ya’).

I’m just a scrapper. Who tries to avoid getting hooked on new things like Copics which anyone can plainly see are a slippery slope of wanting more and more in every color then needing a place to store them and a book to record all your colors and … PHEW! Before you know it, they’ve taken over your life and Copics are all you can think about. Mmmmm … pretty colors …

My name is Erika and I’ve been addicted to Stickles.
My name is Erika and I’ve been addicted to acrylic stamps.
My name is Erika and I’ve been addicted to paper stacks.

My name is Erika and I *AM* addicted to Basic Grey …
… and October Afternoon
… and Simple Stories
… and THICKERS {Lordy, lordy, Thickers, why can’t I QUIT ya’???}

So. I am trying to be older and wiser here with the Copics. I’m trying to be all Maya Angelou and say, “When you know better, you do better.” Well, I know I have Scrap-Addictive Personality Disorder so the last thing I need to do is latch on to another new thang like these here Copics.

But for the rest of ya’alls?? Pssst … word on the street is that Michaels now sells Copics … ;)

No, not my very own … I didn’t succumb to the temptation. But I posted about the Sassafras Mystery Box HERE and thought you might like to see what was inside.

Vanessa from the Delightfully Bright blog has posted the contents of her box HERE.

I’m glad I didn’t go for it because not enough of it is my style. But WOW there is sure a lot of bang for your buck in that box. {Ahhh, alliteration, how I love thee!}.

I was wondering what scrapbook companies WOULD push me over the edge to purchase a mystery box. I was initially going to say BASIC GREY or OCTOBER AFTERNOON. However, I already have so much of their stuff, I would probably just get duplicates, LOL. Hmmm … maybe ECHO PARK or LILY BEE. I like them both but don’t have much of either.

How about you? Are there any scrapbook companies who, if they put out a mystery box, you wouldn’t be able to resist?

The first step is admitting you have a problem. There are 12 steps all together. For this addiction, I am currently on Step 1. I’m attempting to admit that I am powerless over this addiction and my life has become unmanageable. ATTEMPTING, people!

Okay, I guess what I’m really saying is that I’m on Step ZERO: Not willing to acknowledge that I have an October Afternoon problem because then I would have to quit buying up the new lines every time they come out.

{P.S. Do NOT leave me some silly comment about how dare I make fun of the 12-Step Program when there are people out there suffering with serious problems and I shouldn’t be making fun of them, blobbity blobbity blah. It’s a JOKE. Unclench already. Sheesh}.

Okay, so back to my addiction issues and the Step Program. For cawfee, I am currently on Step Zero. For Diet Coke, I have scratched and clawed my way to Step 12. I won’t be so bold as to say that I’m cured because that would be tempting fate and that is one bee-yotch I don’t want to tangle with. So I’m just taking ‘er one day at a time, my friends. One day at a time. (Nah, nah, nah, nah … One Day at a Time!) (If you’re old enough to get that TV show reference, you are damn old like me).

{Note: My one-year anniversary of Diet Coke Sobriety is coming up on 02/15/11 and I am damn proud of myself. I had a 4-can-a-day habit for YEARS and I just decided one day to quit cold turkey. However, I’ve recently begun drinking Sugar Free Rockstar to stay awake at work and, my fellow Diet Crack addicts, I fear ’tis a slippery slope. I call on you – and my HP of course – for strength at this difficult time. “Let go and Let God”, “Attitude of Gratitude”, “Semper Fi”, and all that. Thank you.}.

I’m on, like, Step 18.5 with my former acrylic stamp addiction. Totally cured. Recovered stampaholic. One day about a year ago, I said “no more!” and haven’t bought another set since. I know, I know … you wish you had my strength, don’t you? Yeah, I get that often.

All that said, HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW EFFIN OCTOBER AFTERNOON COLLECTIONS!?!?!? No? Well, here you go …

Of course, I love both of them … although not equally. {Shhh … don’t tell Rocket Age but I love 5&Dime just a wee bit more}.

It seems they’ve added some new components to their lines, like the Chip n Stick, Miscellany, Tin Pins, and Rubber Charms. Yes, there’s another new type of item that I left out but only because I can’t type that word. I have a ______ phobia. They skirr me. I have nightmares. No, I’m not kidding. Hey, for some people it’s clowns, for others it’s spiders, for me it’s _________. Oh, just seeing them and thinking about them, I’m all “Ick!”

Are there 12-Step programs to deal with phobias? Never mind. If hating ________ is wrong, I don’t wanna’ be right.

So, back to my point … and I did have a point … OA has two new lines!! What do you think ~ love or hate? Hot or cold? Addicted or couldn’t care less?

For my fellow OA Addicts … see you at the meetings! I’ll be the one with the jitters, standing by the coffee urn :)

What a nice way to start your morning. I sit down at the computer with my cawfee, open up the 2peas scrapping board, and the first post I see is THIS ONE.

My first reaction was, of course, …. YEAH – HOOOOOOEY!

Because I {heart} OCTOBER AFTERNOON. They’re my favorite company lately and I’ve been buying up their lines, new and old. I checked out the LINK to the OA blog where the details of the Santa’s Sack Sale are given. Huh … $39.99 is a GREAT price. They’ll flat rate ship, and even ship internationally which a lot of US scrapbook companies won’t do.

Then comes the internal dialogue: “Should I do it? Should I do it? Huh? Huh? Can I afford it? How much is in Paypal account? Wonder how much of the new lines would come with it?” The enabling voice in my head blathered on like that for quite a bit (could it be the cawfee?).

Well, ultimately, I think I’m going to pass, for these reasons:

– I need another mini album like I need another donut. Which is to say, I don’t.
– I already own most of their papers, excepting the 3 new lines (yeah, I’m a paper ho and I admit it)
– The cards aren’t really my thing. Of the few packs I’ve gotten in kits, I see using only 1 or 2 of them.
– I like their 12×12 alphabet stickers but I really *love* the Mini Market Alphas. They don’t specify which type of alphas you’ll get.

I think the smarter thing for me to do would be to spend that $40 on buying exactly what I want from their 3 new lines, which I haven’t purchased yet. {Okay, you’ve GOT to give me propers for finding a way to justify spending money on new OA by virtue of NOT spending on the OA grab box. I keep telling you people, I’m the Master}.

I have to admit, I’ll miss being included in the “scrapbook frenzy” this sale is sure to cause. I’ll miss getting the box, inhaling it’s lovely scent, and taking pics to share with you bloggy peeps.

But I’ll live vicariously through you, k? I think *you* should order the box. Then show me pics when you get it. Deal?

Other thanMEMORY WORKS, I’m not much of an online scrapbook shopper. Actually, I don’t shop much online for anything except during Christmas (HULL-OH Amazon.com, and your sweet Super Saver Shipping deals!).

So I don’t shop online much, mainly because I hate to pay shipping on things … I’m just stingy like that, LOL! Plus, with my scrapbook stuff especially, I’m always trying to find deals, discounts, clearance, and use 40% or 50% off coupons. HOLLAH!

However, my enabling friend ABBY shared a deal that was going on at JOANN.COM for either free shipping or 40% off one item. I don’t have brick-and-mortar Joann stores here so I don’t get to shop there :( When Abby mentioned the discount, I thought about heading over there (virtually speaking, of course) but didn’t. I knew it could be dangerous territory, because they have a huge amount of stock and I don’t have a huge amount of money.

Then she said the magic words: “They have OCTOBER AFTERNOON in stock, and some of the paper packs are HALF OFF ….” See what a crafty little manx she is? The way she enables me, you’d think she was getting kickbacks from Miss Joann herself.

Yes, I did end up making a purchase, after having things in my shopping cart for a day or two. See, the thing is: I {heart} October Afternoon and yet (gasp!), I don’t own any. Waddup??? So I got a ROAD TRIP 12×12 Collection Pack and some extra Label Stickers …

HERE is a video showing the entire Road Map collection. I think it’s a good thing I didn’t see this video BEFORE I went shopping. Just sayin’…

This VIDEO shows some OA Collection Packs including Cherry Hill. Just keep watching until after the Pink Paislee kit ;-)

Mini Market Alphabet Stickers {from the VERY MERRY collection} in this pretty teal green. They look like the teeny little ALPHAS I like from MAKING MEMORIES but they’re slightly bigger.

I paid regular price for the 4 sets of extra stickers, but the 2 Collection packs are normally $23.99 and they were 1/2 off at $11.99 … and I saved about $8 in shipping for a total savings of about $32. My entire order was less than $38. Ya’ can’t beat that with a stick!

It’s a bummer the shipping takes 7-10 days, but I guess that’s what you get for “free”, huh? I’m officially infatuated with October Afternoon now. I can only hope that Memory Works starts carrying OA after this CHA, because I’m going to do some damage to their new lines, SEASIDE, HAPPY HOME, and most likely, whatever else they come up with.

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